


Rogue One Day

by NewLeeland



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alta Sedent AU, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Amazing Drave, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Headcanon-time, Jyn is very smart, M/M, RebelCaptain goes university after the war, Rebelcaptain Secret Santa, Rogue One several years after the war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 02:03:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NewLeeland/pseuds/NewLeeland
Summary: Years after the war has ended, Rogue One might be separated from time to time, as they are now free to explore the galaxy. On at least one day though, they are always together.





	Rogue One Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FebruarySong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FebruarySong/gifts).



> A Rebelcaptain Secret Santa gift for [@ohbeeone](http://ohbeeone.tumblr.com/)! I hope you enjoy it! :)
> 
> Ok, so this is set in my Rogue One AU that’s in some permanent state of hiatus and being written. It is the same AU as my previous story [“Birthday People”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12364563), but you don’t have to know it to read this one. Although I would be delighted if you’d choose to read it as well. ;)
> 
> About the AU: Instead of going back for Galen, Lyra goes with Jyn and they are both rescued by Saw Gerrera. When Jyn is 16, Lyra and Jyn find their way to the Alliance. While Lyra becomes part of Mothma’s staff, Jyn aces her tests and catches the attention of General Draven, who proposes to pair her up with another young and promising Intelligence agent. Rogue One still takes place - with some changes.
> 
> This particular oneshot is set after the Fall of the Empire and combines a headcanon I previously wrote about in [“The Problem of Remembering”](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12327696). I always had the headcanon - founded by canon material - that Jyn is a very intelligent person and when the war is over, she and Cassian both take the opportunity to pursue an academic career to some extent before settling down. As both Galen and Lyra are still alive in this one, they’ve settled on Lyra’s homeworld of Aria Prime.
> 
> The prompt was: Something about family, be it the team as a found family or Jyn and Cassian's actual extended family or Jyn and Cassian having kiddos and starting their own family. Preferably on the side of happy instead of heavy angst! :)
> 
> So I decided to write a mix of all that - Rogue One celebrating their “own” holiday, memorizing the events that led all of them to meet a decade ago.
> 
> Enough talk, on to the story!
> 
> Special thanks to both [Kobo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kobo/pseuds/Kobo) and [Pingou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pingou/pseuds/pingou) for their pre-publishment-beta-read!

* * *

The end of the war wasn’t the end of Rogue One.

Sure, each of them now walked on different paths. Baze and Chirrut had decided to semi-join Luke Skywalker’s effort to find out more about the Jedi by tracing scrolls, texts or any sort of knowledge that had survived the Empire’s great purge. Although that meant lots and lots of travelling, both didn’t get any younger. Baze had once mentioned in his typical gruff way that he aged much faster around Chirrut and even faster “around you young folk.”

Jyn had taken it as a compliment, of course.

Her parents were a different issue. A small part of Galen had hoped to return to a university and research in peace. But for the galaxy, the name Galen Erso would forever be linked to a weapon that had killed billions of beings and damaged even more lifes. The Alliance - and its successor government, the New Republic - had officially pardoned him, but as one university president had aptly put it: “It would do neither of us any good to give you a chair.”

As always, it had been Lyra who came up with the idea to return to her own homeworld of Aria Prime and retire. Lyra shared her husband’s last name, but with her connections and long years of service on Mothma’s staff, nearly all doors would have been open for her to return to the academic world and continue her career as a geologist.

Galen had encouraged her, but after years of being separated from her husband and even more years of war and conflict, the prospect wasn’t as tempting as it would have been once. What was more alluring was returning to her homeworld of Aria Prime and “retire”. They still did their research, but it was only for their own enjoyment. Especially for Galen, it was a relief to work without even the slightest pressure.

It had helped immensely that the rest of the “extended Erso family” - or Rogue One - decided to settle down as well. Bodhi used his farewell donation (all Rebellion soldiers had gotten one several months after the Battle of Jakku) to launch his own small cargo transport company. He had set up his “headquarters” on Aria Prime as well, although like the Guardians, he spent most of his time travelling the galaxy. Ferrying cargo without the constant fear of being attacked might have been a boring task, but it had a calming effect on Bodhi. The scars Bor Gullet had left would never fully heal.

Jyn and Cassian had taken a different path. For both of them, the Rebellion had been such a dominant part of their lives that they found it hard to switch from war to peace, from doing a mission after another to having time for themselves. Both had considered continuing their service in the new military of the New Republic, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, they embarked to reclaim something the Empire had taken from them - the opportunity to learn.

It had felt like a silly idea enrolling at the University of Hanna City on Chandrila, but after some time, students and professors no longer saw them as Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, the heroes of Scarif, but as Jyn - who had a brilliant mind and could smite someone in a discussion just as easily as she defeated stormtroopers with her truncheons - and Cassian, who wasn’t very chatty, but observant and absorbent.

(Galen had always been proud of his daughter, but he nearly broke down when she got her doctor’s degree. It seemed like a picture of a happier life they could have lived if the Empire hadn’t risen.)

Eventually, they both joined Galen and Lyra on Aria Prime. Lyra had always wanted to show her daughter the planet, but fate and war had intervened. It was indeed a beautiful world: green meadows and hills, forests and lakes and some larger cities. Rogue One had settled a few klicks away from the capital. It was a placid place, but they all agreed they had enough stress for a lifetime.

* * *

With her son and daughter over at their grandparents’ house, the morning of Rogue One’s anniversary was a quiet one for Jyn. After a breakfast made by Cassian, she took a brief nap on the couch in the living room (After all, they had better things to do last night than sleeping.). Cassian was in his office room, checking a few new messages.

His occupation was somewhere between job and leisure activity, but what was more important, it was some kind of closure for Cassian. Their spy skills were just as sharp as they were a decade ago and although peace had smoothed some of the edges, there were still some tiny moments when one of them realized they had subconsciously checked a building for all the exits, observed nearly everyone who walked past their house and were highly alert to their surroundings.

It had all started in their first year at Hanna University when a shy young Mon Calamari had approached Cassian. It had taken a lot of gentle prodding to get him to open up, but in the end, he had asked if they knew any way to find out what happened to his brother, who had served under Admiral Ackbar during the war, but had been declared MIA.

The New Republic was a still a young government and the challenge of being the new dominant power in the galaxy was a huge one. For security reasons alone, lists of soldiers, pilots and personnel weren’t kept in one big database and the resources to maintain them had always been sparse. Even now, a decade after Jakku, many relatives and friends still wanted closure on what had happened to a father, mother, sister, brother, uncle or old school friend.

Cassian had been “keen as mustard” as Constantine had put it and after three weeks of research, he found out that the Mon Calamari’s brother was very much alive, but recuperating in a hospital on Dantooine. Word had spread of this achievement and within weeks, dozens of sentients had asked for his support.

Cassian had insisted on doing it for free, the ghosts of many fallen comrades still plaguing him at night. In the end, Leia had gotten involved, made him an official of the New Republic and given him access to all databases. He got paid some money, enough for the family to enjoy a comfortable life, but far less than any other person would have demanded. He rejoiced far more in finding out what had happened to the person in question. Many of these searches did not end as happily as the first one, but when they did, the gratitude was so overwhelming it made him uncomfortable and happy at once.

Rummaging through files and documents and talking to old comrades were two of the most important parts of the research, but nearly every skill he and Jyn had learned as Intelligence operatives proved to be useful. Their success rate was excellent.

“Hi, I’m so glad you could join me today! I thought today we would do a fantastic little painting and I’m glad you’re here and painting along with me. So, I tell you what, we start today by showing you all the colours we need.”

Jyn hadn’t even realized the holo was on, but maybe she had activated it before lying down. She wasn’t used to tranquility when she was sleeping, not since age eight. War and anxiety had been replaced by Cassian’s soft snoring and the ruckus their two kids made, so she needed a tiny bit of background noise to be at peace.

“... so just let’s start thinking about happy little trees back there. We don’t want them to be too dark yet, as…”

The voice sounded familiar, but foreign at the same time. It was absolutely calm and quiet, yet easily understandable. Soothing was perhaps the perfect word to describe it. Like a warm blanket or a hug from a parent. Like sitting in front of a chimney fire with a mug of hot tea while it rained outside. Preferably while cuddling with Cassian.

“Wherever you think they should be is exactly where they should be. Just let your imagination take you. Go wild. That’s so fantastic about painting: You can create any world you want.”

Jyn didn’t knew the channel, but it was apparently some kind of painting show. A simple one. A human man, middle aged, average height dressed in a simple white shirt and blue jeans was standing in front of a black background. Apart from him, there was only a piece of canvas and a painter’s palette he had in his left hand, using his right to slowly add colour to the canvas. What was the most memorable about the man was a giant brown afro that looked like some ceremonial headgear of the Royal Guards of Antalupe V.

“Just let your brush take you there. Let all these little things happen. We don’t make mistakes. Only happy accidents. The many layers you have here create the illusion of depth and distance in your painting.”

The instructor turned around and when she saw his face, Jyn instantly recognized it again. After all, he had been her commanding officer for more than ten years.

“CASSIAN!”

Maybe she shouldn’t have screamed, as only three seconds later, her husband barged in, blaster in his hand and eyes wide open, scanning the room for hidden enemies. When he saw Jyn on the couch, transfixed on the holo, he calmed down a bit, but hurried over to her nonetheless.

“Jyn, what’s wrong?”

His wife didn’t reply, merely jerking her head towards the holo screen. Taking her hand and softly stroking the back of it, he followed her line of sight.

The holo was nothing spectacular, only a man painting a picture. It took him three seconds before he saw the face of the painter and although he did not scream, he was just as open-mouthed and shocked as his wife was.

“We take a tiny bit of cadmium yellow. But first, we’ll create a little, nice tree trunk that lives here. It’s not straightforward or perfect, no, no. This tree trunk was formed by nature. Just how you draw it is perfect. Remember: There are no mistakes. How you do it is exactly how it is meant to be.”

The man in the holo who had such a calming voice and a carefree attitude was nobody else than Davits Draven, former General of Alliance Intelligence and their former superior.

Cassian had known Draven even longer than Jyn and to some extent, it was Draven who brought them together. Not as a couple (although that had been a direct consequence), but when he had first seen Jyn’s test scores after she had joined the Rebellion, his first idea had been to pair her up with his most promising young agent. It had been a rough few weeks, but the trust grew. (And something else both had preferred not to define until one fateful mission.)

Draven wasn’t the heartless and ruthless bastard many made him out to be. But for a high-ranking officer in the Intelligence branch of an organisation that fought against a tyrannical system that had two-hundred times their number, more resources and not the slightest qualm to kill anyone who stood in its part, being nice wasn’t a required character trait. Matching the most insidious and vile Imperial spies and officers left little room for the more idealistic goals of the Rebellion.

They hadn’t heard what Draven decided to do after the war and the man was as shrouded in mystery now as he was in the past. It reminded Jyn that it might have been a fate Cassian would have shared if things had gone differently.

“You’re ready to get crazy?” Draven grinned brightly and for some reason, it was one of the most terrifying sights both of them had ever witnessed in their lives. It just felt unnatural. “Tell you what, let’s take a little Van Dyke Brown and a bit dark stuff together and make a big cliff. A big cliff that lives. Right there.”

His voice was off. Not short, clipped and long-suffering, but positively cheery. Of course, spies learnt how to change their voices, but this one sounded surreal. Yet there were several small traits - the pronunciation of his vowels and they way he rolled the “r” - that were unmistakably Draven.

It was Jyn who finally managed to gather the remote and after pressing a button, they were presented with a short info text about the show.

_The Pleasure of Painting. Presented by Amazing Drave!_

Interested in landscape painting? Our own expert Amazing Drave will teach you how to create wonderful sceneries filled with life and tranquility in your own home. Even if you have the artistic talent of a colour-blind Gungan, just listening to his soothing voice will bring you peace!

Jyn and Cassian had no idea how long they stared at the holoscreen. Their silent petrification was only interrupted when Lyra came in through the kitchen door, followed by their son and daughter.

* * *

“So you want to tell me that Draven, General Davits Draven that is, is now a painter on the holonet?” Chirrut sounded half-amused and half-serious and even after all these years, it wasn’t easy for Jyn to ascertain if he was jesting or not.

“Yes, I couldn’t believe it either. He’s on every weekday from 10 to 11. See for yourself.”

Chirrut just glanced at her. “Really, little sister? Such an easy opening?” Now he was definitely amused.

“He always seemed kinda odd to me. People like that need a valve to let off steam. We should be glad it is painting and not torturing little animals,” Baze stated, the least perturbed of all of them.

“Or growing muja fruits,” Cassian added, voice riddled with disgust.

“One day you have to tell me why you bring so much odium on muja fruits,” Bodhi muttered, still in his pilot uniform including his trademark goggles. He paused blowing on his spoonful of soup.

(Cooking had been a group effort. As it turned out, both Galen and Cassian were quite skilled in the kitchen and although Lyra and Jyn weren’t bad either, it came in handy not all were needed and someone was there to keep an eye on the kids. Just as Lyra had predicted, they were just as lively as their parents.)

“They are everywhere and everyone wants to put them into dishes. It’s like a galaxy-wide conspiracy,” Cassian explained, but nobody really listened. They had long since agreed not to discuss this further.

They all had arrived just in time. In fact, Bodhi had picked up the Guardians on one of his rounds to the Outer Rim and brought them back just in time for the anniversary. It was no big affair, no speeches or something like that. Just a nice dinner among them. Family. No matter where they had been or what they were doing, they had always reunited on this day since the war ended.

When Cassian and Jyn had been studying on Chandrila, they had taken a week off. Bodhi found one of his employees to take over shifts and even when the Force had let Baze and Chirrut to remote planets it “always brought them back just in time,” Chirrut claimed. “All is as the Force wills it.”

It reminded Jyn of shared meals in mess halls on secret bases, capital ships, their own U-wing or even under the stars. It had been different back then, of course, but still, the feeling of having a family remained the same. And they were one. Not all of them related by blood, but life had welded them together. Their meetings had been laced by destruction and although Jyn still hadn’t the same reverence of the Force as her mother, the sheer fact that all of them had survived this long…

“The probability of that is 0,00000000001 percent, Cassian,” Kay remarked from his own seat. The droid didn’t eat anything of course, but it was taken for granted that he was included in their reunion. After all, he had been the third member of Rogue One.

(It was still a matter of a friendly debate who was member number four. Bodhi insisted that the moment where Galen had recruited him counted, while Baze and Chirrut claimed they had joined the Rogues - Jyn, Cassian and Kay - before they were brought to Saw’s hideout.)

It was almost idyllic and kind of like the family dinners a young Jyn had hoped for back on Lah’mu when it had been just her and her parents. Baze and Kay shared one of their own jokes, Lyra and Chirrut chatted about a text the Guardian had found on a remote world called Ach-To. Bodhi calmly supervised his godson who cuddled with a small, birdlike creature Chirrut had brought with him from said world. Upon initial contact, Baze had suggested eating them but Chirrut had other plans.

Cassian gently rocked his two-year-old daughter on his lap, whispering Festian words to her while Galen just sat there with his eyes closed.

Not one of them had had an easy life.

Cassian had lost large parts his family at a young age and had been thrown into war-like conflicts even before.

Jyn had spent her youth and most of her twenties fighting, first with the Partisans, then with the Alliance.

Bodhi had endured the rigorous Imperial training regiment, had been tortured by Saw and had to witness his world explode.

Baze and Chirrut had lost many of their brothers and sisters, for some time each other and one of them even his sight. And when finally a glimmer of hope had returned, their home had been destroyed.

Lyra had spent years full of fear, not only for her husband’s life, but also for his mind. She had to raise her daughter alone, be mother, father, protector and teacher. It had been a battle with Saw about how to raise her and then watch her leave for missions without knowing if she would ever see her again.

Galen had spent years without knowing if his sacrifice would succeed, separated from his wife and daughter without knowing about their whereabouts. And despite his act of sabotage that had helped the Rebellion score its first significant victory, most of their few neighbours still didn’t know who he was for security reasons.

No, it wasn’t perfect.

But Cassian, who had lost his family, had found a new one and founded one of his own.

Bodhi had friends to help him with his plight and could now fly freely, like he had always wanted.

Baze had found his faith again. He and Chirrut both had new brothers and sisters and the Force was something that was discussed with reverence and not with skepticism.

Lyra had her husband back and her utmost goal, the happiness of her daughter could be seen each and every day.

And Galen had learned to live with the guilt. It was ironic that nothing had helped him bound with his son-in-law as much as this.

It was unique. Not perfect. Not ordinary. A bit weird, a bit special, a bit sad, a bit happy. It was them.

Rogue One.

(Some days later, Jyn and Cassian discovered that nothing got the children to sleep easier than having them listen to Amazing Drave talking about painting.)

**Author's Note:**

> It got a lot more reflective than fluffy in the end and with less actual talking than I had planned. But from what I know/my experiences with such events, the conversations aren’t that brilliant and interesting. Some jesting, a few stories and all that. The most important thing for them is being together.
> 
> “Amazing Drave” is of course a Star Wars version of [Bob Ross](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Ross). For those who aren’t familiar with him, Ross was a painter, art instructor, and television host. His program, The Joy of Painting, ran from 1983 to 1994 and still airs today. Ross’ paintings depict nature, but more important were his soft and soothing voice and his afro. From my own experience, watching one of the episodes is very relaxing indeed.
> 
> What is interesting and inspired this homage is the fact that Ross was an Air Force sergeant for twenty years and in his own words was “the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work.” So he decided he would never scream again after leaving the military.
> 
> If Davits Draven really went down this path is up to the reader to decide. Maybe he’s undercover to root out Imperial loyalists in the Holonet who could be threat to the New Republic?
> 
> “Amazing Drave” is also another homage to [Grace Hopper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper), a computer scientist and US Navy rear admiral. I can only advice to read about her, she was a brilliant woman and was sometimes referred to as “Amazing Grace” (like the Christian hymn).
> 
> I couldn’t resist including a little reference to Diego Luna and his aversion for a certain fruit.
> 
> Cassian’s occupation after the war is based on ideas that [The Putterer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theputterer/pseuds/theputterer) and [Callioope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callioope/pseuds/Callioope) developed in their own fics. All credit goes to them! The idea of Cassian (and Jyn) using their skills to find missing people, especially former Rebel personnel, is a fascinating one. After thinking about it, it would make much sense for the Rebel Alliance to have very sketchy rolls on their soldiers and maybe many are listed under wrong names or a nom de guerre to avoid prosecution or to protect their families. Connecting the dots and researching to find out their fates seems like something that would keep them from being “idle” and still feeling involved. For Cassian, I believe finding people - even if it’s just a few cases - would help him find a balance and assists the switch from war to peacetime.


End file.
